Tabitha Perry will serve as the city of Glendale’s planning manager.

The city announced the move on Monday.

Perry has worked for Glendale for two decades, and has spent the past 10 months as the interim planning administrator. As planning manager, Perry will organize and direct the activities and staff within Glendale’s Planning Division.

“Glendale is constantly evolving and it’s invigorating to come to work knowing something exciting may come our way each day,” Perry said. “I am excited about working on new challenges, like assisting with the development of infill properties and assisting with solutions to address the affordable housing crisis.”

During her time in Glendale, Perry has served in a variety of roles. When she first began working with the city in 2001, Perry served as the associate planner for more than six years. From there she rose to a senior planner, before being promoted a year later to the principal planner; a role which she held for over three years.

After just a month on the job, she was promoted to assistant planning director and was also selected for a special assignment, which she held concurrently for eight months with the economic development office. Perry had been serving as the special projects executive officer for the city since December 2017, before being tabbed as the interim planning administrator this past June.

“Tabitha has done an outstanding job as interim in this position during one of the busiest permitting and land use times in the city’s history,” Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps said. “As Glendale continues to experience exciting and unprecedented growth, she plays an important role on our winning team by earning the trust of our customers and moving projects through in a timely manner.”

The city’s Planning Division provides services related to both long-range and current planning. It administers the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance for new development and redevelopment projects.

Planning aids the community in development and the permit review process, carries out plans in strategic locations and provides professional information to the city manager, elected officials and the public to support quality growth in Glendale.

Perry has a Master of Administration degree from Northern Arizona University and a Bachelor of Public Administration from the University of Central Florida.

She began her new role as planning manager on May 7.